Musicians describe it as the audio equivalent of going from a flat-screen image to full and immersive 3D.

Last weekend the club hosted Switch, a legendary British DJ and co-founder of the electronic music group Major Lazer. It's the first time he's hit the decks in five years and it was specifically to play with the Atmos experience.

The technology is already used in several cinemas and expands on the standard 5.1 speaker set-up. And never has "surround sound" been more appropriate.

The 40 speakers in Ministry of Sound's smoke and laser-filled front room have been increased to 64. Each one pulsating with beats that have been passed from Dolby's required Atmos Rendering and Mastering Unit (RMU).

"It's about making the hairs stand up on people's necks," explains Martin Doorly, the house musician and DJ behind Doorly & Friends who played alongside Switch on Saturday.

Doorly has played a residency at Ministry in the past but insists the upgrade makes the 25-year-old venue feel like a new club.

"We put the drama into our tracks but ultimately it's still stereo - all you can do is put it left and right. But with [Atmos] we've got total freedom."

The musician said he and Switch spent hours in the studio mastering the tracks to get them sounding their best in the 5.1 format. But, thanks to Dolby's live music application that ran during the set, they could recalibrate anything instantly.

Doorly is a DJ getting to play at Ministry of Sound's Atmos event (Image: Facebook)

Doorly plays the Atmos system at Ministry of Sound (Image: Jeff Parsons)

"We can break down the track into its individual stems and have total control to play with them all and mix them with the track," Doorly explained to Mirror Online.

"So I can keep the drums the same but if I've got an effect - like the roar of a plane - or an echo or reverb, I can move it around the room. I've got a small joystick that I can use to move it right where I want it."

Rather than having sounds assigned to individual speakers (like in a cinema or your front-room) Atmos puts them into a specific part of the 3D space.

The system can then use any combination of the speakers to figure out the best way of getting it there.

"Dolby Atmos represents an evolution in the history of live sound," a spokesperson for the company told Mirror Online.

"Using straightforward stereo source material, the software app takes individual sounds and positions them around the 3D space with just the help of some brilliant software and the addition of a few overhead speakers."

Eventually the plan is to begin installing the systems in other clubs around the world. But for the moment, Dolby is betting big on the Ministry of Sound.